elan's screenplays
JUST MAKING CHANGE: a romantic comedy
Log Line:
Two crafty convicts exploit an election loophole to get elected mayor, prove their innocence, revive their rustbelt town and win back the romance they'd lost--all from their cell!
Synopsis:
Rufus and Michelle are young and in love. Rufus decides that the dinner Michelle is preparing is in need of a good red wine. Stepping out to the local liquor store, Rufus finds himself arrested for murder. Unjustly convicted he is sent to prison leaving Michelle distraught and questioning her judgment in men.
Rufus's very large and politically astute cellmate, Dante, discovers an election law loophole and decides to run for mayor. At the last minute, Dante panics and he writes in Rufus’s name as the candidate. Rufus wins and this gives him a chance to reconnect with Michelle who works in the mayor’s office.
Sparked by inmate Jose’s fashion genius, Rufus , Dante and Michelle create Innocent Designs. Encouraged by their success they utilize the various skills of the convicts to develop other businesses. Thus, this unlikely collection of eccentric criminals become successful entrepreneurs who transform the prison and the town. Rufus , though integral to the make-over of the prison, remains focused on proving his innocence and his love to Michelle.
While shooting an Innocent Designs layout in Elle supermodel Tiffany falls hard for the complicated Dante as they discuss post-industrial European political movements during a steamy hot tub. All this culminates with a triple wedding at the end of the movie.
SURRENDER: a Civil War drama
Logline:
With the Civil War’s end, two battle-hardened Confederate soldiers efforts to find peace are thwarted by a lawless, post-war society that forces them to keep fighting and killing.
Summary:
Having survived years of combat, Thomas and Aaron, confederate soldiers in Virginia, search for tranquility with the Civil War’s end. They return to Aaron’s home to find that his bride-to-be has died and that his brother, the Reverend Joseph blames the South’s surrender on weak and faithless soldiers.
Weary of violence, Aaron and Thomas leave for Richmond joined by Caleb, Aaron’s 15-year-old nephew. Surrounded by desperate survivors and uncaring profiteers, Thomas seeks refuge among the gamblers and Rebel soldiers, Aaron befriends Amelia, a freed slave woman, and Caleb finds ways to benefit from the human destruction.
When Amelia, is injured moving an unexploded cannonball, Aaron rushes her to the Rebel hospital, only to be denied help by the medical staff. Thomas, Caleb and Rev. Joseph each arrive at the hospital, setting the stage for the final confrontation.